Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your CV

February 4, 2019

Job hunting can be a long and tiring process that can get you down if you don’t have immediate success. Jobs are more in demand than ever and in many cases, there are considerable numbers of people who go for just one job vacancy. Therefore, it is essential that when you apply for a job you are applying with a CV that is as impressive as possible.

You need to do whatever you can to ensure that you stand out from the crowd and make yourself seem appealing to future employers. Try to get into the mind of the employer and try to think about what qualities they could be looking for. Use any job description or specific material that you can find in order to tailor your CV and show that you are perfect for the job. Here are a few things you can do right now to improve your CV!

Do Your Research

It is important that you know your stuff about the career choice you are trying to get a job in. Do some research online and find out what sort of skills and qualities are essential to the job you are trying to get. Perhaps try and reach out to other people you know who have the same or similar job that you want and ask them what they did to get where they are. If you aren’t sure about the sort of job you want yet, then perhaps research the qualifications that you have and see what career routes that you will be able to take.

Sometimes, in order to get a job that you really want, you need experience, which may require you taking on a job you aren’t as keen on just to gain that experience. Once you have the experience, though, you can develop your CV and show the transferable skills you’ve gained from it.

Additional Qualifications

It can sometimes be an idea to try developing your CV through the completion of additional qualifications. By showing that you have taken your own time to undergo additional training, you are showing the employer looking at your CV that you have initiative and know how to work independently. It also shows that you care about your career and your work.

Additional qualifications can include first aid courses, which can make you stand out to an employer and make you a valuable person to have as part of their team. Similarly, you can study for an ECDL course which is a nationally recognised IT qualification. This shows that your computer skills are up to date and that you are confident and effective at using modern technology. This is a very valued skill to have as most professions are now involved in some way with modern technology. Look at findcourses.co.uk to see which ECDL courses are available.

Network

Networking and building relationships with others in your chosen career area are a great way to improve your CV. Websites such as LinkedIn offer you a platform to develop an online CV and connect with people you may have worked with in the past. Here you can endorse the people you have worked with, and they can endorse you. You can also gain recommendations from others as a form of reference for potential employers.

Increasingly, those who are looking for work will develop their LinkedIn account and then provide the link to it in their physical CV. This is particularly helpful when trying to keep your CV to an appropriate size in order to keep the attention of your potential employer. By adding the LinkedIn account to your CV, this provides an online and accessible way for someone to read more in-depth about your achievements.

Quantity your Achievements

When you talk about your achievements, try to make them sound as easy to understand as possible. Your CV will not receive or hold an employer’s attention if it is not snappy and to the point. Try and use supporting figures to show your skills, for example, put a figure on the amount of sales you may have made for a company during a sales role.

If you are fresh out of studying for your degree, then you may want to talk about the marks you achieved at essays and show how well you have done. But don’t forget to talk about what your personal achievements and how it benefited the person that you worked for. By showing the positive impact you had on a company when you are working in a role, you are highlighting the reasons why you should be picked for the job.

Improving your CV may seem like a very difficult task, but if you really think about the ways that you are unique to another applicant and show off your additional skills, you can improve your CV so that future employers can’t wait to meet you!

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